over feeding?

[womantis]

i have a subadult female tenodera and an adult male tenodera (i now know this thanks to the good folks here who helped me identify gender)

can the mantids overeat? my male will eat one large cricket per day and ignore any extra crickets (which i do remove afterwards). however my female is ravenous - she will eat at least 2 large crickets a day, she is one moult away from adult.

should i reduce her feeding to one large cricket/day or are two large crickets/day ok? she has even "double fisted" when i put more than one cricket in her enclosure...any advice appreciated.

 

[angelofdeathzz]

Let her eat as much as wants, it should help her to becoming a adult quicker, males always eat less then females.

 

[womantis]

thanks angelofdeathzz...she is bottomless and takes down the largest crickets - in fact she'll pass on a smaller cricket if a larger one is in sight!

 

[angelofdeathzz]

Your welcome And you have a very clever name, well if your a woman that is...

 

[mantid_mike]

i hope they're not eating crickets from Petco or Petsmart. they claimed the lives of 3 of my mantids.

 

[womantis]

thanks angel. yes i am a woman

mantid_mike - they are from petco - i have a large batch of crickets and all are super healthy and robust. however, i think a previous batch claimed one of 2 of my subadults a few weeks ago - both were otherwise super healthy. in fact, from that ooth, i had about a hundred that i raised to L3 and only about 3 perished before releasing. i am looking for a reputable cricket supplier as i prefer to avoid the megastores...

 

[Rick]

If the abdomen is nice and plump you're feeding enough. If it gets thin you need to feed more. Adult females should be allowed about as much as they can eat.

 

[sueb4653]

i hope they're not eating crickets from Petco or Petsmart. they claimed the lives of 3 of my mantids.

CATCHING GRASSHOPPERS IS WHAT i DO AND IT CAN BE FUN AT THE SAME TIME